Expansion continues at Oregon College of Art and Craft

Cedar Mill residents may have noticed a few changes at the Oregon College of Art & Craft, 8245 S.W. Barnes Road. It's all part of a multi-phase expansion that started with the groundbreaking for the Drawing/Painting and Photography Studio in September 2008. The new building, which will add more than 14,000 square feet of classroom, studio, and photography space to the campus, is scheduled to be complete this summer. The college plans a community celebration in September to showcase the new space.

In addition, new sidewalks have recently been poured along Southwest Barnes Road and Leahy Road, next to the campus. Communications Director Jody Creasman says the "campus has always struggled with parking issues. We added about 100 parking spaces, and we have changed the front of the campus entry for easier entry and exit."

Creasman also said that all the work has a significant emphasis on environmental sustainability. The new building has a green roof, she said. "We've created a bioswale to collect water runoff from paved surfaces," Creasman added, "and we've chipped all the trees we took down and used them on site." She said that significant landscaping will replace the old orchard that needed to be removed earlier.